Electric switch



Sept' 1927' H. E. NORVIEL 1541352 ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed Jan. 20, 1926 Patented Sept. 6, 1927.

' UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

HARRY E. NORVIEL, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MRSNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO DELCO-REMY CORPORATION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE.-

ELEGTRIC SWITCH.

Application filed January This invention relates to electrical switches and especially to switches for controlling the ignition and lighting circuits of an auto- .mobile.

One of the objects of the present invention is to adapt for operation, by a detachable key or plug, certain types of lighting and ignition switches which hitherto have been operated by a single lever or handle permanently attached to the switch.

V switch;

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views taken, respectively, on the lines 44, 5-5,

66 and 7-7 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the switch contacts, this view being taken from the back of the switch.

The switch comprises a case 20 having an apertured end. wall 21 provided with a bearing 22 for a switch shaft 23. The shaft 23 is provided with a notch or recess 24 for receivln'gthe end of a key or plug 25. The key 25 is insertable through a key-supporting barrel or shaft 26 which is rotatably supported by a-switch dial orface plate 30 and by a key-retaining plate 31. The plate 31 is provided with an aperture 32, the walls of which cooperate with the walls of the key which define the key notches 33 in a manner such that, whenthe key is turned to Ign,

Dim and Brt the key cannot be removed from the switch, and so that, when the ke is turned into Curb, Dim and Off positions the key is removable from the switch. The barrel 26 is kept from rattling,

while the automobile is driven by its engine, by resilient washer 27 located between a shoulder 'on the barrel and the inside of plate 30; and the key 25 is kept from rattling by maintaining it in engagement with the key-retaining plate, by a disc 28 slidable 20, 1926. Serial No. 82,453.

in a recess 28 provided by the shaft 23 and urged by a spring 29 against the inner end of the key.

The case 20 is attached to the flange 34 of a tubular member 35 having a flange 36; and said flange and the plate 31 are attached to the face or mounting plate 30 by ears 37 integral therewith and bent around the edges of the plate 31 and the flange 36. In this manner, the switch case 20 is supported by the mounting plate 30 and in spaced relation therewith by the spacing tube 35. The tube 35, plate 31 and the casing end wall 21 provide a chamber 38 for receiving the switch shaft 23. The parts enclosed by the case 20 and supported by a non-conducting cover 40, which is attached to the case 20 by lugs 20 integral therewith, are similar to the switch parts which are disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 22,977, filed April 14,

1925. These parts will be described very briefly, as the articular construction and arrangement 0 them does not, of itself, constitute the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 7, the shaft 23 is provided with longitudinally extending notches 41 which receive fingers 42 integral with a driving disc 43. The disc 43 is provided with longitudinally-extending fingers 44, which are received'by notches 45 provided in a non-conducting contact carrier 46. The contact carrier 46 supports resilient contact fingers 47, 48, 49 and 50, which are electrically connected, and a pair of contact fingers 51 and 52 which are electrically connected but are insulated from the fingers 47, 48, 49 and 50. The contact fingers 48 to 50 are movable by the key 25 into engagement with certain stationary contacts carried 95 by the switch case back 40. In Fig. 8, these contacts are represented by dot-and-dashline circles numbered 53 to 61, inclusive. The contacts 51 and 52cooperate, respectively, with stationary contacts 62 and 63, which 10 are represented by the broken lines in Fi 8. Contacts 53 and 54 are connected by con uctor 64 and terminal 65 with a tail-lamp circuit 66. Contacts 55 and 56 are connected by conductor 67 and terminal 68 with a dimmer 105 resistance 69 which is connected with a terminal 7 0. Terminal 70 is connected with a head-lamp circuit 71 and with the switch contact 57. Contacts 58, 59 and 60 are connected by conductor 72 and a terminal 73.

Terminal 73 is connected by a fuse 74 with a conductor 75 and a terminal 76. Con- .ductor 75 is connected with switch contact 63. In this way a battery, which is connected with the terminal 76, is connected with contacts 63, 58, 59 and 60. Terminal 73 is connectedwith a circuit including a horn 78 and a horn button 79. The switch contact 61 is connected with a terminal 80 which is connected with a side or curb-lamp circuit 81. The contact 62 is connected through a terminal 82 with an ignition circuit including an ignition coil primary 83 and an ignition timer 84. Numeral 85 designates the ignition coil secondary, and 86 the ignition distributor.

W1thout describing in detail the circuits which may be completed by the turning of the key 25, in either direction from the Off position shown in Fig. 1, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that counterclockwise rotation of the key 25 into Dim or Curb positions will produce clockwise rotation of the movable switch contacts, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 8, to complete circuits from the battery through the dimmer resistance to the head-lamp circuits 71 or from the battery to the side-light circuit 81; and that clockwise rotation of the key 25 into the diflerent positions Ign, Dim and Brt will produce counterclockwise rotation of the contacts, as viewed in Figs. 4 and 8, to connect, respectively, the battery with the ignition apparatus alone, the bat-.

tery with the ignition apparatus and with the head-lamp circuit 71 through the dimmer resistance 69, and the battery with the ignition apparatus and directly with the head-lamp circuit 71, without the dimmer resistance.

The switch contact carrier 46 is maintainedyieldingly in the various positions described, by means which includes a disc 90 having a plurality of equidistant projections 91 which are yieldingly urged by spring 92 into certain ones of the equidistant holes 93 in the end wall 21 of the switch case 20. The disc 90 is provided with notches 94 for receiving the fingers 44 of the driving disc 43. The disc 43 is provided with a hole 95 and notches 96 for permitting the projections 91 to extend from one side of the plate 43 and past the other side thereof into the holes 93. One of the rivets 97 which is used to secure the switch case 20 to the spacing tube 35, is provided with a head 97 a which serves as a stop to limit the movement of the switch key 25 and the driv- .ing plate 43, by the cooperation of the head 97" with stops 98 and 99 provided by the driving disc 43. The spring 92 bears at one end against the detent disc 90 and at the other end against a washer 100, which encircles the head of a screw 101 and is retained by projections 101 thereof which are received by grooves 102 provided by the washer 100. As shown in Fig. 2, the screw 101 secures to the shaft 23, the" driving disc 43 and a spacin washer 103.

In my copen ing application referred to, there is disclosed a switch having a case and parts supported thereby and enclosed by the case, which corresponds with the present switch case 20 and parts supported thereby. Instead of a switch shaft 23, the said application discloses a handle having a hub attached to the movable switch contacts in the manner disclosed in the present application. By substituting for said switch handle, the shaft 23 and by attaching the switch case 20 to the parts 30, 31 and 35, and by mounting a key barrel 26 upon the parts 30 and 31, a handle or lever-operated switch can be readily adapted for operation by a key or plug.

The switch mounting plate 30 is provided with holes 110 surrounded by frustro-conical flanges 111 which are received by notches 11.2 provided by flange 36 of the spacing sleeve 35. In this way, the plate 30 is located correctly with respect to switch case 20 and contacts therein. The recesses provided by the flanges 111 receive flat-head screws by which the switch is attached to an instrument board.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a case having an apertured end wall, stationary contacts insulatingly supported by the case, movable contacts rotatable within the case, a shaft extending through said apertured wall and operatively connected within the case with the movable contacts, and provided outside of the case with a key-receiving recess, an index plate attached to the case and having a bearing in alignment with said shaft, and a keyreceiving barrel supported by said bearing.

2. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a case having an a ertured end wall, stationary contacts insu atingly supported by the case, movable contacts rotatable within the case, a shaft extending through said apertured wall and operatively connected within the case with the movable contacts, and provided outside of the case with a key-receiving recess, an index plate and a key-retaining plate connected in spaced relation with the switch shaft and having bearings in alignment therewith, and a keyreceiving barrel supported by said bearings, said plate having a key-receiving aperture so shaped that the key is retained by the plate in certain positions of the key.

3. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a case having .an apertured end wall, stationary contacts insulatingly supported by the case, movable contacts rotatable within the case, a shaft extending through said apertured wall and operatively connected within the case with the movable contacts, and provided outside of the case with a key-receiving recess, spaced plates attached to the case and providing bearings in alignment with the shaft, a key-receiving barrel supported by the bearings, and a resilient member bearing against the barrel and one of the plates to prevent the barrel from rattling.

4. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a case having an a ertured end wall, stationary contacts insu atingly supported by the case, movable contacts rotatable within the case, a shaft extending through said apertured wall and operatively connected within the case with the movable contacts, and provided outside of the case with a key-receiving recess, a key-receiving barrel located in allgnment withthe shaft, means for supporting the barrel including a key-retaining plate having a key-receiving aperture so shaped that the plate will retain the key in certain positions thereof, and

means carried by the shaft for resihently urging a part of the key against the plate to prevent rattling of the key while it is being retained.

.5. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a case having an a ertured end wall, stationary contacts insu atingly supsignature.

ported by the case, movable contacts rotat able within the case, a shaft extending through said apertured wall and operatively connected within the case within the movable contacts, and provided outside of the case with a key-receiving recess, a flanged member attached to the case and having a notch in the outer edge thereof, a pressed metal index plate attached to said member and having a hole surrounded by a conical flange for receiving a screw, said conical flange being received by said notch to locate the index plate relative to the case and a keyreceiving barrel in alignment wlth the. shaft and supported by the index plate.

6. An electric switch comprising, in combination, a case having an apertured end wall, stationary contacts insulatingly .supported by the case, movable contacts rotatable within the case, a shaft extending through said apertured wall and operatively connected within the case with the movable contacts, and provided outside of the case with a key-receiving recess, sheet-metal index plate and key-retaining plate members having spaced central portions providing bearings in alignment with said shaft, a tubular member secured to the case and providing with the retaining member an enclosure for the shaft, means for securing together the tubular member and plate members, and a kcy-receivin' barrel supported by said bearings of the p ate members.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my HARRY E. NoRvIEL. 

